Australians Lost $148M Last Year in Crypto-related Scams
The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) has reported that Australians lost a record of $2.03 billion due to various fraudulent schemes last year – 66% of them being investment manipulations. This is 162.4% more than in 2021 when the total amount scammed was $20.5 million.
The average victim is a man aged 65 years and older, living in New South Wales. The regulator has noticed a rise of people being scammed on social networks or dating apps.
Catriona Lowe, ACCC spokeswoman, has stated:
“Scammers are rapidly evolving and unfortunately many Australians are losing their savings.”
She has also highlighted that “we have witnessed the emergence of disturbing new tactics that make it incredibly difficult to detect intruders.
They spoof phone numbers, email addresses, and websites of real organizations”, thus making it easier for everyone to fall victim to fraud.
